MEXICO. - The cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is the main trafficker of methamphetamines in the Pacific triangle of Asia -Mexico-United States, and also controls 80% of the U.S. market with an annual income of $3 billion dollars, according to a recent report.

"This organization is a truly global company, as its products are exhibited in markets with a high degree of diversification," said researcher Jose Luis Leon of the report entitled "The trafficking of methamphetamines: Asia-Mexico-United States," which is part of Mexico's Security and Defense 2012 Atlas that will be presented next week.

The author states that the markets in which the organization of "El Chapo", who is the most wanted drug lord in Mexico, include North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. In all of these territories is where his organization traffics marijuana, cocaine, opiates and methamphetamines.

Some Mexican circles were critical of the inclusion of "El Chapo" in the list of the richest in the world by Forbes magazine, where the Rand Corporation estimates suggested that this drug dealer obtains an "income of at least three billion per year. A figure that is similar to Netflix or Facebook's."

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the Sinaloa cartel in 2012 controlled 80% of the U.S. market after pushing out small laboratories that operated within the country.

The author claims that the cartel led by "El Chapo" imports huge quantities of chemicals from China, India and Thailand, which reach the Pacific ports of Mexico or Guatemala, and are processed in clandestine laboratories in the states of Michoacan, Jalisco , Sinaloa and Sonora, where soon after they are shipped towards the U.S. border.

The study highlights that this trafficking network is one of the most dynamic in the world, where these drugs are transported by land, commercial flights, fishing boats, cars, SUV's and also all-terrain vehicles to transport the drugs through the desert. The use of temporary bridges equipped with sandbags in the Rio Grande and Colorado, and also "narcotunnels" are other methods used by this organization.

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Omar.Martinez@sandiegored.com